Eliot House is one of twelve residential houses for upperclassmen at Harvard University and one of the seven original houses at the College. Opened in 1931, the house was named after Charles William Eliot, who served as president of the university for forty years (1869–1909).

Contents

Before Harvard opted to use a lottery system to assign residences to upperclassmen (beginning with the class of 1999), Eliot was known as a 'prep' house, providing accommodation to the university's social elite, and being known as "more Harvard than Harvard". Describing Eliot House in the late 1950s and early 1960s, author Alston Chase wrote, "[A]lthough most Harvard houses in those days reflected the values of Boston Brahmin society … Eliot was more extreme". The random assignment to houses has been in effect now for 25 years, so there is no longer a concentration of the monied elite in any Harvard house. The Final Clubs are the last vestige of that self segregation. Some traditions of Eliot House are the annual Spring Fete, the Eliot Boat Club (an intramural crew team), formal dinners such as the Charles Eliot Dinner, and a strong sense of house pride. The motto 'Floreat Domus de Eliot' and 'Domus' are traditional chants, particularly on Housing Day, when freshman find out their housing assignments.